Doctor Who? Next time-travelling star of British show to be revealed Sunday

By Nick Thompson, CNN

Updated 1404 GMT (2104 HKT) August 2, 2013

Travel through time with Doctor Who12 photos

Travel through time with Doctor Who – The BBC draws back the curtains to reveal who will be the next British actor to play the famed Doctor. He is Peter Capaldi, seen here attending the British Comedy Awards at the O2 Arena on January 22, 2011.

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Travel through time with Doctor Who12 photos

Travel through time with Doctor Who – Clara (Jenna Coleman) and the current Doctor (Matt Smith) in season 33 of the popular show.

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Travel through time with Doctor Who12 photos

Travel through time with Doctor Who – David Tennant, who played the Doctor from 2005-2009, arrives for the gala screening of the Doctor Who Christmas episode at the Science Museum on December 18, 2007 in London.

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Travel through time with Doctor Who12 photos

Travel through time with Doctor Who – Christopher Eccleston, who played the ninth Doctor in 2005, arrives at the premiere of his film "Gone in 60 Seconds" in Los Angeles on June 5, 2000.

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Travel through time with Doctor Who12 photos

Travel through time with Doctor Who – Paul McGann, who starred as the eighth Doctor in the 1996 movie "Doctor Who," arrives at the Institute of Contemporary Arts on August 15, 2002 in London.

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Travel through time with Doctor Who12 photos

Travel through time with Doctor Who – Actor Sylvester McCoy, who played the seventh Doctor from 1989-1996, arrives for the world premiere of 'The Hobbit' movie in Courtenay Place in Wellington, New Zealand, on November 28, 2012.

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Travel through time with Doctor Who12 photos

Travel through time with Doctor Who – Colin Baker, who played the sixth Doctor from 1984-1986, poses with Daleks on July 12, 2013 in York, northern England.

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Travel through time with Doctor Who12 photos

Travel through time with Doctor Who – Peter Davison, the fifth Doctor from 1981-1984, poses in the TARDIS at BBC Television Centre, London, on April 15, 1981.

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Travel through time with Doctor Who12 photos

Travel through time with Doctor Who – The fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker from 1974-1981, standing alongside a Zygon, meets Sergeant Frank Ziegler, a guard at the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square, London in 1978.

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Travel through time with Doctor Who – The third Doctor, played by Jon Pertwee from 1970-1974, sits in the car park of BBC Television Centre, London, guarded by two Daleks in 1972.

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Travel through time with Doctor Who – Patrick Troughton, who played the second Doctor from 1966-1969, holds one of his own paintings outside his home in Teddington, London, on May 5, 1981.

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Travel through time with Doctor Who – William Hartnell (center) stars as the first Doctor (1963-1966) and is pictured alongside Dracula and Frankenstein's monster in "The Chase" on May 2, 1965.

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Story highlights

Next star of seminal British show "Doctor Who" to be revealed live on Sunday

British actor Peter Capaldi, star of political comedy "The Thick of It," is odds-on favorite

50th anniversary of show's first episode to be marked by biopic, special episode

BBC: "Even those working with new Doctor on other projects have no idea"

Whovians, clear your calendars -- the next star of the British science-fiction series "Doctor Who" will be unveiled Sunday during a live half-hour television special on the BBC.

The 12th Doctor of the long-running show, which has aired 33 seasons and nearly 800 episodes since it premiered in 1963, will be revealed in front of a studio audience set against a backdrop of a swirling vortex, Daleks, and the TARDIS, the BBC has announced.

Peter Capaldi, who starred as a foul-mouthed spin doctor in the British political comedy series "The Thick of It," has been the odds-on favorite to step into the good Doctor's blue phone booth-shaped time machine after Matt Smith, the 11th Doctor, announced in June that he would be leaving the show after four years.

Ben Stephenson, Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning, said: "We can't wait to unveil the next Doctor ... It's the biggest secret in showbiz, even those working with the new Doctor on other projects at the moment have no idea they are in the presence of the 12th incarnation."

The show will air live simultaneously on BBC One in Britain at 6:00 p.m. GMT and on BBC America at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The seminal British series first aired in 1963 -- when the broadcast of the premiere was delayed due to coverage of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy -- and spawned a number of spinoffs, books, stage performances and radio shows before going off the air in 1989.

The show returned to television in 2005 to critical acclaim in Britain. The BBC has said it will debut the new Doctor in this year's Christmas special.

Rory Kinnear, who played Bill Tanner in the James Bond films "Quantum of Solace" and "Skyfall," and Idris Elba, better known as Stringer Bell from the HBO drama "The Wire," have also been tipped as candidates to be the next incarnation of the Time Lord.

As fans eagerly await the appointment of the next Doctor, the BBC will celebrate the 50th anniversary of "Doctor Who" with a biopic about the show's origins.

"An Adventure in Space and Time" will premiere later this year and fictionally recounts the creation of the series while exploring the team behind its first episode.

The show will also mark the highly-anticipated milestone on November 23 with a special episode starring Matt Smith, David Tennant -- Smith's predecessor -- and John Hurt as the Doctor, according to the BBC.